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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why do Hortensia and Marion agree that being enemies was better than being friends?

2. What does Hortensia reveal caused her to slap Marion?

3. What did Hortensia and Peter do on many of their first dates?

4. How does Hortensia describe Peter on the morning after their wedding day?

5. Who is Innes?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Hortensia slap Marion?

2. How does Hortensia ultimately feel about marriage?

3. What causes Hortensia to “begin to hate”?

4. How does Marion feel about the torture schematics she finds at the library?

5. Why does Hortensia mock Marion’s attraction to Frikkie?

6. Why is Beulah’s pregnancy symbolically significant?

7. Why did Hortensia and Peter’s relationship receive criticism?

8. How does Agnes ultimately feel about Marion?

9. Why is the fact that Hortensia had an abortion significant?

10. How does architecture tie into Marion’s racism?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does the theme of “design” function in the novel? In what ways is it a focus of both Marion and Hortensia’s lives?

Essay Topic 2

How does the novel explain the development of Marion’s racism? What specific scenes from her childhood cause her to develop in the manner that she does?

Essay Topic 3

Compare and contrast the opening and closing scenes of the novel, which both take place at the Koppie. What do these similarities and differences symbolize about the course of the novel?

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